I hate gerbils in petstores.

[Kenshin]

Well, I think it depends on the over-all health of the Gerbil, a healthy one has a high immune system and can probly withstand it but 1 to 5 week old gerbil probly will have allergic reactions to pine because it's system hasn't adapted to much at all, atleast that's my 2 cent's of assumptions :-P

[dapple]

I've worked at both PetsMart and currently work at Petco, not to defend them but...

They are required to use Carefresh and Aspen for all critters (both stores, all stores in each chain), both order in several animals at a time...but if someone buys all but one there is a loner left over ( we have only been able to get three at a time from our supplier for some reason and people tend to buy pairs, very hard to convince them to buy the last lil guy), both are required to have animals euthanized by a vet. At Petco, if any of our animals get sick, they are requiered to go to the vet or at least get a phone consult (for super common things like hammies and wet tail, wish they wouldn't send such young ones sometimes).

Therefor, if you see stuff wrong at either chain, not only are they being cruel, they are violating their own policies! There is a Careline number posted in each store, plus you can e-mail. If you notify HQ, they *will* do something. The store that I am t at some point in it's past had the entire managment team replaced (before I got there) because of animal issues and people complaining and them not passing the store inspections. You CAN make a difference!

Small shops are harder to combat when they are bad unfortunately

[paws]

I love Petsmart!!!! It sells the best stuff for dogz!!!! I didnt know that either Petsmart OR Petco sold Gerbies!!!!

[Kenshin]

Yeah, Petsmart has quite a few gerbils :-P, There main stuff is Hamsters, Rats, at time's Mice *Mostly sold out* and Gerbils and of course, Birds ... and the boring fish

[mafff]

Furtunetly are the Petstores in Holland Better Trained In Keeping Gerbils.

I bought My Gerbils in a petstore where they kept them in pairs of 2 but the Space was a little to small i gess.

[lizzy]

Lydia said:

Some of the ppl who are members here, work in pet shops don't they.What does happen to a hamster,gerbil,rat that has grown past the cute baby stage,if no-one buys it ?

Lyd

Nothing. It stays in the cage until someone buys it (or one of the members of staff takes it home, which usually happens ) It doesn't get sent back to the breeder, nor sold at half price for snake food.

It would be dumb of us to say that gerbils are 8 weeks if they're 5 months. 5 month old gerbils are usually twice the size of 8 week old ones.

[callimico]

Kenshin- the age doesn't matter to much. But not all gerbils are allergic to pine, only those that have that genetic defect, will have respiratory problems as a result of the pine. If they don't carry it (yours must not) then living on pine won't harm them. Many petstore gerbils are allergic to pine though. But other beddings, such as aspen, give them the benefit of burrowing, a lot more fun then pine

It's sad that some stores don't train their employees better, or learn more about indvidual species needs.

I saw a lone white gerbil, I thought he was a REW at a petco. He was huddled in a corner with thin hair, and was so small. His nose was huge and red, and when I asked to see him, the employee started to put her arm in the cage- first thing he did was run over and bit her hand HARD. She told me you had to be quick to pick them up by their tails before they could turn around and bite you.

I came back a week later bought the poor guy and paired him up ;D He's now VERY happy, never even nibbles, and living with 3 companions, grown a lot, (but still not enough masculine bulk), and guess what?
Turned out he's a DTW ;D

There're a few good pet stores around here, but most of the employees know nothing about gerbils so can't inform customers right. There's one horrible pet store in a mall the next town over- every kind of animal packed into as small a space as they can cram it into.

I saw 7 adult gerbils (at least one was male) all in a tank, a few had bites on their rump or scabs. All the animals their were treading around in their own poop, had no toys in the cage, and drank out of food dishes. (except the dogs- they had waterbottles). There was a dead mouse in the tank full of feeder mice- that they didn't bother to remove. Most of the animals were listless, had greasy hair, or were in bad shape.

Its just disgusting that some stores can treat the animals that way and the public doesn't notice or doesn't care. I bet some people would believe a 5 month gerbil is a 6 week pup- they might not know the difference.

But Petworld and Petsaver are great!! I like Petsmart to, it's always fun shopping for wooden toys and getting to see all the different animals and birds running around

[sandy]

Actually, if a gerbil is plump and well fed, and has a sand bath regularly, they are just as appealing and cuddly as adults in my opinion. I get a lot of people come to my house looking for pups and fall in love with a cuddly pair of well-padded adult males! Once past about 4 weeks the pups are, I think, too fast and "mousy" for kids, and they find the adult gerbils slower and tamer, as well as a nice cuddle in the hands.

Callimico, can you post pics of your DTW? Pleeeease?

[doomgerbiluk]

there are a lot of very good points here.
Personally I would love to see these pet shops have no animals or a 'display' tank of pet gerbils, well set up, lots of toys, regularly handled, permanent home and then a list of breeders from whom the animals could be ordered. ie not sell live animals direct fromt he store.
In this way people could really know what keeping gerbils is about and the stress of being in a small sale cage in a pet store would be eliminated. the next best thing is a local store, pampurred pets, whose gerbils live in a HUGE tank half filled with bedding and tunnels, little houses etc. they only sell boys and the lads have loads of fun digging complex tunnels.
The transport of gerbils in small boxes is not actually cruel, it helps keep them warm, calm and not get knocked about during transit. For gerbil shows the pens are quite small too, we add woodshavings, tissue, a handful of food and some wet fruit or veg (cucumber, grapes). No water bottle as it would leak and make their bedding soggy.
So long as the boxes are not overcrowded, too hot or too cold the animals should be fine.
As for complaints......please do complain.
If its a chain yes, go to head office, make a big fuss. Small shops point out wahts wrong, try to make friends with the owners. If theyre really bad contact environmental healthy, the rspca or whoever is appropriate.
One thing I have to say, buying that lone gerbil is not 'rescuing' it, its making a space available for the next lot. Considering the number of times I've heard people talk about 'rescuing' gerbils from petco, petsmart, PAH etc they must sell a huge amount of animals that way. If you buy a gerbil from a pet shop your BUYING not rescuing, you're perpetuating the trade.

[callimico]

Here he is ;D I'm so glad I bought him- he's the only DTW I have (well hopefully I'll have some born next month from Pepper and Taffy)

This is Roody in November (bought him end of summer)..I know the lighting made the picture kind of a sickly yellow color:

This is Roody late January

He's very gentle now and doesn't mind being picked up (but won't jump onto a hand immediately unless he wants out of the tank- so a little more reserved then pups hand raised here). The petco is only supposed to sell females- usually black or agouti so he came from somewhere else, another breeder had overstock or something.

Today at Petworld I saw a pied gray agouti(possibly polar fox)!! lol but I resisted- I wouldn't have room for him.

[meriones]

Your DTW has a very dark tail!! I've seen pictures of them before but none had tails so deeply colored. He is beautiful ;D

[Ritzie/Admin]

Mafff said:

Furtunetly are the Petstores in Holland Better Trained In Keeping Gerbils. I bought My Gerbils in a petstore where they kept them in pairs of 2 but the Space was a little to small i gess.

Not all of them! Some shops really don't know a thing! Selling only one gerbil, etc. Some shops are good, others not! Luckily more and more pet shop owners and salesman and women take courses on animal care (mostly in Barneveld). And some have studied there on the Groenhorst College (animal care and veterinary nursing). But not all. I've tested some shop myself. By asking some questions on what kind of cage or tank would be best. They tried to sell my a plastic cage, with all kind of plastic items in it! Not so good! And in the beginning when I started breeding gerbil, I've sold some litters to pet shops. One time they placed the new gerbils just in the tank of the other gerbils....and you can imagine what happend! They started to fight! She didn't know what to do, so I took my gerbils out of it and left the shop with my gerbils again and some bite wounds in my hand.

But I have to say, some shops are indeed fine!

[sweetie]

Like anything there are good and bad. I find that if I venture into a bad one, I just calmly ask a question. If they answer correctly I comment not threateningly about the conditions. If they do not know the answer, I give them the correct one and then fill them in on the rest of the information they need in order to properly sell and give info out to a customer of the gerbil. Luckily, I have only had to do this once.

Another idea is to send a brochure to the petstore manager. I like the AGS petstore brochure. Then they can get the information and not have to feel "wrong".

I would encourage every one to please speak up. It is really inportant for all of the animals at the store ot just for the gerbils. It might make you feel better too.

[sandy]

Wow, great DTW!

Yes, Doom, I agree. A breeder can do a lot to educate pet stores. The one in my area that I deal with has adopted 2 large tanks for gerbils, one for males and one for females. The tanks have lots of toys and food and are cleaned very fequently. The only thing that could be improved is they still have the water in a dish not in a hanging tube. When I take them some gerbils I always sex them for them and make sure they are seperated into the appropriate tanks. That way there will not be any pregnant gerbils sold. I also make sure my gerbils are old enough to withstand pine, diet changes and any temp variations they may encounter in the pet store (also the bigger ones are less likely to be used as reptile food).

I'm thinking of making a gerbil colours card for this store, to educate them about all the special colours gerbils have and to encourage them to make a pay scale for the more rare colours out there. Why should a siamese gerbil or a burmese (or a blue!) be sold for 6 dollars when it is so very rare here? I think they should charge more and make a big deal about it, the same as fancy breeds of cats and dogs.

[callimico]

Thanks ;DPetstores here used to do that 5$ white gerbil, 6$ brown, 7$ black, 8$ gray, and 10$ golden gerbils (but they never had any "golden gerbils" avail). Wow Peter, good thing you got your pups out of their fast, when I bought a pup from a petstore, I also wanted to see a large female that was a retired breeder, and the guy started to drop the adult female right into the box with the female pup- I had to explain to him you can't just put strange gerbils together and expect them to get along... The stores are getting better, anyone who gets a hamster is told they have to keep it alone, but they still don't tell people to buy gerbils in pairs (I'll work on it ) And when anyone in the store asks to buy a rodent their told first off that they can't guarantee the gender of the animal being bought